IPAV vs NFRA

IPAVDGlobal X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. ETF

NFRAANorthern Trust STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure ETF

In short

IPAV Most of the world's building happens outside the United States. IPAV takes the infrastructure-development idea (contractors, materials, equipment, any sector) and points it entirely overseas, across developed and emerging markets.

NFRA Most global infrastructure funds stop at utilities and toll roads. NFRA's index goes wider, adding cell towers, data centers, hospitals, prisons and postal routes to the pipelines and railroads, across developed and emerging markets.

Stated mandate

IPAV IPAV seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Global X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. Index.

NFRA The fund seeks to match, before fees and expenses, the performance of the STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index.

Why people hold it

• IPAV Buys the build-out chain, not the finished toll road: about 100 non-U.S. companies tied to infrastructure activity, selected regardless of sector or industry label.globalxetfs.com
• The overseas half of a pair. Global X runs the same development-focused approach for U.S. builders in PAVE, so this one covers developed and emerging markets outside the States.globalxetfs.com
• Rules-based, not a stock-picker's hunch: it tracks the Global X Infrastructure Development ex-U.S. Index before fees and expenses.

• NFRA Five supersectors in one wrapper: communications, energy, utilities, transportation and government outsourcing (hospitals, postal, correctional), across roughly 220 holdings.flexshares.com
• Charges 0.47% net (0.48% gross), net of a waiver through March 1, 2027, below the infrastructure category median.
• The index does real work: half of revenue must come from infrastructure, names must clear a $1 million daily-volume screen, and sector caps limit crowding. Rebalanced quarterly.flexshares.com
• Listed in 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays quarterly, it sits among the stronger builds in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• IPAV 0.55% is mid-pack for thematic infrastructure, but above broad global options such as IGF at 0.37% and its U.S. sibling PAVE at 0.47%.
• Launched in 2024 and still a small, lightly traded fund, so spreads tend to run wider than at the category's giants and the track record is short.
• Builders and materials names skew cyclical rather than utility-like, and cash comes back once or twice a year, not monthly.globalxetfs.com

• NFRA Cheaper options sit on the same shelf: IFRA at 0.30%, IGF at 0.37%, GII at 0.40%. Each tracks a different index with a different definition of infrastructure.
• Broad cuts both ways: telecoms, railroads and postal operators share the portfolio with utilities, so this is not a pure regulated-utility sleeve.flexshares.comflexshares.com 2
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy for the category, which can mean wider spreads on larger orders.

Full IPAV profile⁠

Full NFRA profile⁠